One Two Three
by Wilona Riva
Summary: Continuation of Cordria's Nova Shots #34.  Phantom initiates a cat and mouse game with Valerie. With enough hints, can she figure out his identity? First chapter is Cordria's original oneshot.
1. Nova Shots 34

One Two Three

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: In no way do I own Danny Phantom. Cordria has given me permission to continue Nova Shots #34. This first chapter is her original oneshot.

* * *

**Nova Shots #34**

* * *

Valerie stared down at her list, then glanced over at last year's yearbook, then back at her list to scribble another name on the page. Wrinkling her nose, she absently chewed on the end of her pencil and sighed. She was putting more work into this stupid list than she had put into any of her assignments since fifth grade. And it was still driving her nuts.

After hours of work, she was down to thirty-seven names. Thirty-seven possibilities. She sat back in her chair, only partially satisfied by the results. Thirty-seven wasn't so bad – she'd still have to spy on each and every one of them – but it was lots better than trying to watch _everyone_.

Thirty-seven names… and it had only been a week since the Day That Changed Everything.

Of course, Valerie had a number of days that could qualify for that title – the day Phantom had destroyed her future, the day she'd gotten her first ghost hunting suit, the day she'd gotten her second ghost hunting suit – but she'd chosen Wednesday, July 8th as the official Day That Changed Everything. That was the day she'd found out the big secret.

She wasn't stupid, no matter how her grades looked. It had taken her less than five minutes after she saw Mayor Masters turn into that ghost to figure out the secret. Her first-hand knowledge of the human-ghost-girl and how closely she resembled Phantom did nothing but back up her gut instinct. And the intense rivalry she'd witnessed between Mayor Masters and Phantom solidified it in her mind.

It was so _obvious_ that Phantom was a third human-ghost that it was almost painful. It did hurt, a little, when she thought back over how many times she'd hunted the human-ghost. She didn't want to hurt a human – even if he was some strange human-ghost-boy – she wasn't _that_ mad at him. By this point it was more of a game and a tradition than the all-out war it had been.

The list had been born out of that smidgeon of guilt. She wanted to apologize to him. Not just to Phantom… but to the real boy she'd been hunting. A week after The Day That Changed Everything, she was still trying to figure out just who Phantom was. The question was dogging her, digging into her skin as she slept, faces dancing behind her eyes.

He was about her age, haunted Amity Park… she would have bet her last remaining pair of designer shoes that Phantom went to her school. Figuring he had to look similar in both forms – the girl and Mayor Masters did, anyways – she had managed to whittle down the list from every boy in high school to a few dozen. The overly-built and over-wimpy, too old or too young were easily removed, and then she had crossed out a few that she hung out with on a normal basis that she _knew_ weren't the ghost boy.

Which left her with thirty-seven, ranging from ninth graders through seniors.

She ripped the list out of her notebook and pinned it up on the wall, sitting back and putting her hands behind her head. It would probably take weeks of work to spy on all those names and figure out who Phantom really was, but Valerie figured it was worth it.

A soft beeping noise dragged her out of her musings minutes later, shaking her out of a light doze. "Ghost?" she wondered, pulling her hand out from behind her head long enough to check the small wristwatch. A slight glow off the one side indicated the direction of the spirit, the intensity of the blinking a signal as to how strong the signal was. The slow blink meant it was just a pathetic, weak little ghost.

Her hand went back behind her head, her eyes half-closing, intending on leaving the ghost alone. She'd gotten in a ton of trouble after the latest incident with Mayor Masters – her father was still fighting against her ghost hunting hobby and had grounded her soundly – and a simple ghost like that wasn't worth getting in trouble over. Phantom would catch it.

"Phantom." She murmured the name as it rolled into her mind, sitting up for a moment, then getting to her feet and pacing over to stare out her window. "I wonder if you get in trouble with your parents too." Leaning against the wall, she stared out into the encroaching evening. "Assuming you even live with them, I guess."

The thought that Phantom might not have a home troubled her a bit more than she thought it would. The human-ghost-girl had been skinny and ragged, obviously homeless and on the run. Did Phantom have anything better? Perhaps his family had kicked him out…

She shook her head sourly. That wasn't a train of thought worth going down. If he had no home, he wouldn't be in her school and then she'd _never_ be able to figure out who he was.

Without much more thought, Val found herself activating her suit and quietly pushing open the window. Her father had attempted to nail it shut (an idea Valerie had stopped by pointing out the fire danger) when he'd realized she was using it as a way out of the apartment. She'd promised not to use it to sneak out any longer.

The thought was still flowing through her head as she jumped onto the sill and then out into the sky, activating her jet sled as she fell. Glancing back at the darkened apartment, she winced, knowing how much trouble she would be in if her father found out about this, then turned her back on it and raced off into the darkness in search of her ghostly prey… and Phantom.

She found both of them only a few minutes later. Phantom was staring at the ghost with a dubious look on his face, his arms crossed, obviously fighting back a yawn. "You don't say," he muttered.

"Yes, I do say," the ghost proclaimed, holding up a hand is if to quell a nonexistent crowd. "This area is _ripe_ for apocalypse. Think of all the luck you've been using up. Mathematically speaking, Amity Park is a lightning rod for fate! The four horsemen are heading your way – if you listen you can hear them."

"Interesting," Phantom said. "Will you leave me alone now?"

The ghost waved his hands furiously. "You're not _listening to me_!"

"Believe me," Phantom growled, a tense and angry note to his voice, "I've been doing nothing _but_ listen to you ramble on for _an hour_. You're starting to repeat yourself. We've been over the horse thing already."

Valerie grinned a little, stepping on a switch that activated one of the firing cubes. It drifted up to hover near her head as Val centered the crosshairs on the apocalyptic ghost.

"What would it take for you to believe me?" the ghost asked.

"For you to be blown out of the sky-" Phantom started sourly, but blinked and backpedaled, obviously startled when Valerie triggered the cube and sent the ghost tumbling to the ground. "Wha-" He twisted around, his green eyes wide when he caught sight of her. "Valerie," he mouthed.

She dropped a bit lower, setting her board to hover next to him. "Phantom," she greeted. "Mind if I cut in."

"Go for it," Phantom said, waving his hand at the ghost that was picking himself up off the ground. "I'm sick of him."

"Why haven't you just blasted him?" Val asked curiously as she activated another cube.

Phantom's face twisted into a grimace. "I… kinda… felt sorry for him. At first. He's pretty harmless, just _really_ delusional."

Watching the downed ghost shake his head and look up at her with fear in his eyes, Val mentally crossed another person off the list. There was no way Allen Fretters would have been so kind to a ghost that was driving him nuts. Thirty-six names left. "Maybe we should just let him go?" she offered.

"That's not going to work," Phantom replied with a sigh. "He's too worked up over the end of the world – he'll follow you around all night and won't leave. I just don't have the heart to suck him up in a Thermos yet. Give me another half-hour or so."

"2012," the ghost yelled. "The end is coming! You need to stock up and spread the word – the four horsemen of the Apocalypse are on their way! Beware…"

"I'll suck him up," Val offered, one of the cubes sending a low-level blast that shut the ghost's screaming up. She held out her hand for the Thermos, but Phantom hesitated. "What?"

Phantom shook his head, drifting a bit farther away before pulling the Thermos out and unscrewing it. "I'll do it."

Wincing a little, Valerie realized that Phantom hadn't followed her thought process the past week or so – he was still operating on the last thing she'd told him and was assuming she was still trying to destroy him. He had no way of knowing that she had no plan to actually catch him anymore.

Phantom vacuumed up the luckless ghost, sighing a little as silence reigned between them. He was fidgeting, drumming his fingers on the Thermos and watching her closely.

Valerie hovered in the air, her jet sled nearly silent in the night air. "Can I ask you something?" she said, retracting her helmet so that she could see him better.

Phantom's green eye simmered in the semi-dark. He shrugged as an answer.

"Are you a human-ghost like that girl and Mayor Masters?" The startled look that settled on his face was all the confirmation she needed about her theory of Phantom not being the ghost she'd assumed he was. She nodded slowly, crossing her arms and grinning. "Who are you? Do you go to my school?"

Phantom's expression was slowly falling out of his initial surprise and a grin was crossing his face as pieces fell into place in his mind. "You're trying to figure out who I am, aren't you?"

Valerie crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. "Well?"

Rocking back on his heels in the air, his grin grew, humor dancing in his eyes. "What if I don't _want_ you to figure it out?" he said slowly.

Mouth opening to shoot back her response, Valerie hesitated. She wanted to announce that she'd figure it out anyways – she was competitive and smart, after all – but a small corner of her mind was nudging her. After all the hunting, after all the automatic assumptions of guilt, after everything they'd been through over the last year and a half… maybe he deserved his secret if he wanted it.

It all came down to the fact that she owed him something. If not an apology, then maybe a secret. It hurt to say it, but she forced it from between her teeth. "Then I'd stop looking."

Phantom's grin vanished instantly. "Really?" he said, his eyes wide with disbelief.

She gritted her teeth and nodded. If he didn't want her to figure it out, she wouldn't look. It would only plague her relentlessly forever, like an itch on the back of her neck or a two-year-old begging for a cookie – she could handle that.

Suddenly, Phantom moved. His green eyes were just a few inches from her, his cool breath puffing against her face. Valerie felt a moment of vertigo as she stared into his oddly familiar luminescent eyes. When he tipped his head to the side, still studying her, she had to fight the urge to tip her head as well.

A small smile tugged at his lips. "You ready for the test in English?" he said. Then he vanished.

Val opened her mouth to say something, then snapped it shut. Talking to a boy who was no longer there was pointless. "What kind of answer is that?" she grumbled. "You ready for the…" She blinked. "He's in my English class."

As a grin settled on her face, she caught on to the challenge the ghost had just laid before her, despite the fact that none of the thirty-six people remaining on her list were in her English class. _Figure it out_, he was taunting. _If you're so smart, Val, come and find me_. She was back at the beginning, a week's worth of work done for nothing.

But there was no doubt in her mind that she would rise to his challenge. Figuring out Phantom's identity would be as easy as one, two, three.


	2. 456

One Two Three

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: In no way do I own Danny Phantom. Cordria has given me permission to continue Nova Shots #34.

**456**

Valerie stared down at the new list she had compiled. "Oh, this is stupid!" she grumbled, wadding it up and tossing it into the waste basket.

"What's stupid?" the familiar voice of Danny Fenton asked, as he plopped his tray down next to hers. "If you're talking about the test, then I'm on your side."

"No, it's not that," Valerie said, flipping to a new page in her notebook. "It's a stupid puzzle I'm trying to figure out."

"What kind of puzzle?"

"Phantom."

"Oh?"

"Danny, can I trust you with a secret?" Valerie asked him suddenly, sincerity lacing her voice.

"Uh...yeah," he replied.

"I'm the Red Huntress," she said, launching into her story. Danny listened to her repeat everything he already knew, but the next part surprised him.

"So Phantom all but admitted he was a human-ghost like that girl and Mr. Masters," she concluded.

"Phantom told you this?" Danny asked increduously, raising his eyebrows as she showed him the list of facts she'd compiled after returning home last night. Her father, blessedly, hadn't noticed her outing, or if he had, he didn't say anything about it at breakfast this morning.

"Yeah," she said. "He mentioned the English test we were taking this morning. The only way he'd know about that is if he were one of the guys in there."

"What are you going to do if you find him?" Danny asked her.

"Apologize," Valerie said. "I don't want to destroy him anymore. I mean, it wasn't even his dog to begin with. I let my bigotry blind me to the truth."

"That's good," Danny said, standing up. "Val, I've got to get Falluca's homework from Tucker since I missed first period this morning. Good luck with solving the puzzle."

"Okay," she said, smiling at him. "Thanks, Danny."

(Later that evening)

Her spectral alarm beeped, alerting her to Phantom's presence near the park. By the time she reached the site, she felt exhausted.

"You're losing sleep, Val," Phantom pointed out.

"You're the one who started it," she retorted.

"Well, what have you figured out so far?" the ghost asked, changing the subject.

"You're in my English class, but you don't look like anyone in there," she replied.

"Perhaps you should look at the reverse side of the coin," he suggested.

"Okay, Phantom, what else can you tell me?" she said, pointing an ecto-pistol at him.

"I'll be at Bessie's tomorrow after school," he replied, waving good-bye as he vanished. "My favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate."

Valerie scowled. Definitely one of those four, five, six days.


	3. Bessie's

One Two Three

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: This is based on Cordria's _Nova Shots #34. _I have no claim to this story or Danny Phantom. He belongs to Butch Hartman.

* * *

**Bessie's**

* * *

"Bessie's hits the spot every time," Tucker said, licking his strawberry swirl.

"And they have tofu with gummy bats," Sam added, smirking as the boys made a face. "What? It's good. You should try some."

"No thanks, Sam," Tucker declined. "I'll stick with good old dairy any day of the week."

Danny reached over, took Sam's ice cream cone and bit into it, then gave it back. Before Sam could even comment, he kissed her full on the lips. "It tastes like you," he said, after pulling back.

Sam had a dreamy cast to her amethyst eyes. She touched her fingertips to her lips. _Did he just...?_ was the thought that ran through her mind. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Dude, that's just gross," Tucker told him, noting Sam's odd behavior. "Since when do you like tofu?"

"It's an acquired taste," Danny replied. "I wondering how long it'll take her to snap out of it."

"About five seconds," Tucker said. "Valerie's heading our way. Any idea what she wants?"

Danny's eyes crinkled with laughter. "More questions, I assume."

Sam's glazed expression vanished, as her brain alerted her to a rival's fast approach. "Did you honestly have to do that?"

"It's better to have Val as an ally, than to have her use my butt as target practice for the rest of high school," Danny retorted.

"I was talking about the kiss," Sam snapped, "but speaking of which..."

"All you had to do was ask," Danny replied, kissing her senseless again.

* * *

"And they claim they aren't lovebirds," Valerie laughed, as she walked in the doors and spotted Sam, Tucker and Danny in their usual spot. Dash was playing music on the jukebox, while Paulina was at the makeup counter reapplying her war paint.

"Mind if I join you?" Valerie asked, sliding in the booth beside Tucker.

"Yes, we mind," she heard Sam mutter; Danny and Tucker shooting her odd looks. _Jealousy rears its ugly head and the goth is no more immune to it than any other girl._ She hoped her bet in the pool won; she had bet they'd hook up before Christmas.

"Sure," Danny said, sliding over a bit. "Haven't seen you around lately."

"My other job keeps me busy," Valerie replied.

"Uh-huh," Tucker murmured, before Sam elbowed him.

"What can I do for you?" Danny asked, swirling his vanilla ice cream malt. Valerie had seen him eat almost any flavor of them but chocolate since his accident in freshman year. She wondered if he'd developed an allergy or something.

"Do half ghosts eat chocolate?" Valerie bluntly asked. Was it her imagination or did Tucker and Sam just drop their cones? She looked down at the floor. Nope, not her imagination.

"Odd question," Danny said, contemplating the tiles on the table. "Chocolate sends ghosts into a strange hallucinogenic state, not unlike if you were to take LSD. So I assume it would affect halfas the same way."

"Halfas?" Valerie stared at him. "I've never heard that term before."

Danny froze when he realized what he'd just said. "One of the ghosts Mom captured last month spilled it guts before she dissected it?" It sounded more of a question than an answer.

"Your parents would know, I suppose," Valerie said. "Being ghost hunters, I mean."

Danny raised his dark eyebrows at her. "You keep looking around the room every few minutes, Val. Are you meeting someone?"

"Phantom said he would be here," she said. "I was hoping to catch a moment alone with him."

"I'm sure," Sam muttered under her breath. Valerie ignored her.

"I'm going to go and order a double strawberry swirl," she said. "Those chocolate dipped cones look mighty scrumptious." She winked flirtingly at him, then slid out of the booth; Danny's eyes followed her then chuckled as he leaned back in the booth.

"Mind explaining," Sam said, covering his eyes with her hands. Tucker smirked.

"She caught me two nights ago while I was bored to death with this ghost that kept yakking on and on about 2012 and the coming four horsemen of the apocalypse," he said, taking a sip of his malt.

"And?" Tucker pressed.

"She's apparently been two and two together and figured out that I'm half-ghost," he replied.

"She'll murder you if she finds out your human half!" Sam blurted out, violet eyes blazing in outrage. "Danny, are you suicidal or what?"

"No," he calmly replied, picking up a napkin. He reached over and dabbed a bit of ice cream that was hidden in the corner of her mouth.

_Lovebirds,_ Valerie thought, while waiting for her order to be rung up.


	4. Finding Phantom

One Two Three

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: This is based on Cordria's _Nova Shots #34. _I have no claim to this story or Danny Phantom. He belongs to Butch Hartman.

* * *

**Finding Phantom**

* * *

"Damn that ghost!" Valerie muttered, dark circles under her eyes. "Where did he go, this time?" She activated her cold sensors and began circling over the three city blocks in between Ciry Avenue and Scopes Park. The obnoxious FentonWorks sign glowed beneath her like the noonday sun.

"I wonder if these guys have ever heard of light pollution?" she muttered.

"Tried," Phantom's voice whispered into her ear. "What are you doing here, Val?"

"AHH!" she screamed, spinning around on her jet sled, glaring at him. Activating her specter sniper, she aimed directly for his heart. "You're dead, halfa."

Phantom raised one eyebrow. "Where did you hear that term?"

"A classmate," Valerie answered.

"Ah," Phantom said, nodding in understanding. "So, have you figured it out yet?"

"No," Valerie muttered, lowering her gun. "This cat-and-mouse game you've initiated, Phantom, is getting mighty old. Why don't you just tell me who you are?"

Phantom grinned and shook his head. "Will you hunt me down in my human form?"

Valerie grinned. "I didn't think it would be that easy." She deactivated her weapon and put it away. "I'll just have to keep guessing then."

Phantom saucily saluted her.

"Before you go, ghost boy," the huntress said, stopping him in his tracks. "Would you mind answering me one question?"

"Sure," Phantom replied, swallowing. "Just one?"

"Just one," Valerie smiled behind her helmet. "What did you have at Bessie's last night?'

"A vanilla ice cream malt," he automatically answered. He clamped both hands over his mouth, emerald eyes bulging out of his sockets. "Oh, crud!"

"Hello, Danny Fenton," she laughed. "Why didn't I notice the similarities between your two forms before?"

"Appearances can be deceiving," he mumbled, knowing he was dead. "Val, look the ghost dog-"

"Old news," she replied, waving him off. "I won't be letting you off scott free, Fenton, just because you're a ghost."

"Halfa," Danny corrected.

"Halfa," she grudgingly agreed. "Screw up, Phantom, and I'll send you straight to the Ghost Zone."

"Val-"

"No, Danny," she interrupted him, taking off her helmet and shaking out her hair. "We're not friends; we're not enemies. Gah, I really have to crop my hair; it's too long and frankly, I'm getting sick of helmet hair."

"Try flat on the top and shaved on the sides," he suggested.

"Out of your mind, ghost," Valerie grumbled. "My dad would kill me."

"You kind of looked cute with your hair like that."

"When did you see me-Hey!" Valerie exclaimed just before she was nearly blasted by a green ecto-ray.

"Watch it!" she heard Phantom yell downwards. "Some people are trying to talk up here!"

"Not on my city block, ghost punk!" yelled back the familiar voice of Jack Fenton. "Where's my son? It's past his curfew."

Phantom rolled his eyes upwards. "They never give me a break," he muttered. "How should I know?" he called to his father. "Invent something that tracks halfas or something."

"What's a halfa?"

Phantom smacked his forehead. "Too much info, Fenton."

"Well if you see him, tell him he's grounded," Jack shouted up. "He ate the last of my peanut butter fudge." He slammed the window shut and went back to bed.

Valerie laughed as she watched the exchange between Phantom and Jack Fenton. "If you don't watch it, they might figure it out faster than I did."

"Last thing I want right now," Phantom, no Danny, told her. "See you at school tomorrow?"

Valerie smiled, putting her helmet back on. "You're on. Tomorrow should be enlightening."


End file.
